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We swept from one point to another in a rush of eager curiosity—between stores full of glittering trinkets; to bustling market stalls full of colorful produce; to artisan workshops where beautifully-dyed fabrics hung from the rafters; in and out of crowded taverns with hearty laughter spilling from their doors…

Everything seemed alive, vibrant, pulsing with the rhythm of a thousand intricately intertwined lives all being lived out in tandem.

And this was likely another reason Bastian had insisted I come into this city: To remind me that there was life here, just as there was in the Above.

I could only imagine what it would be like to see this entire realm blooming with vitality once more—a hundred cities, eachpulsing with their own unique heartbeat, each salvaged and snatched back from the darkness that might have destroyed them. I wanted the chance to visit them all.

To see themallcome back to life.

The possibility made all the pain of these last few weeks seem worth it.

Word had apparently spread of my feats at Graykeep; I kept catching whispers about it, and about my rising army. I gained more and more followers as the evening went on, too. People wanted to speak to me, to ask questions, to parade me before their skeptical friends and prove I was real. In some cases, they merely wanted to touch my hand.

Both Aleksander and my guards grew a little more uneasy with every citizen that approached me—and I began to understand why Bastian had insisted on so many escorts—but I couldn’t bring myself to turn anyone away.

It was so…differentfrom my old life, to not only be accepted by these people, but also welcomedby them.

Admiredby them, even.

But there was a bittersweet side, as well.

Because most didn’t seem to know the whole story of what had happened at Graykeep. None of them mentioned the way Aleksander had fought his way to my side—the way his magic had combined with mine to create an even more impressive display. They rarely acknowledged him at all, and when they did, it was with the same sort of suspicion and uncertainty he faced from most of the people in the palace.

With every encounter, I found myself growing more confident in my ability to lead and save these people, but less certain about what that salvation meant for Aleks and me.

He had to have been thinking of similar things. Yet he smiled as he watched the citizens of Tarnath fawn over and flatter me—as long as they did it from a safe, respectful distance. And he never left my side.

Happy for me, regardless of what it meant for him.

The crowd around me thinned somewhat as it grew later. Realizing the day was slipping away, we hurried to the dress shop, arriving minutes before they closed. I hastily picked out patterns and fabric, had my measurements taken by a sleepy seamstress, and then we were sent on our way once more.

I was exhausted, by this point, but not ready to return to the palace. We strolled for an hour or so longer before finding ourselves completely enraptured by the scent of sugar and freshly baked bread. Following our noses led us to a quaint little bakery squished between two bustling shops.

A bell chimed as we pushed our way inside, where we were greeted by wall-to-wall display cases that held an assortment of delicate fruit pastries, beautifully frosted cakes, and other sugar-glazed delights. The air was warm, heavy with the rich aroma of butter and vanilla.

The baker was more than obliging once he recognized me, nearly tripping over himself to offer us anything we wanted. I couldn’t choose between all of the delights he presented us with, and so we ended up with multiple boxes full of goods to take home with us—which a few of our guards agreed to carry, albeit with some disgruntlement.

The night deepened, bringing a slight chill with it. Aleks draped his coat over my shoulders and we walked on, pausing on a small bridge that curved over a tiny stream, watching the colorful fish darting about in the water.

I was eating my second cupcake of the evening, trying and failing to slowly savor the fluffy chocolate base and the salted caramel frosting swirled delicately on top of it.

“If the upcoming battles go poorly, I want to be buried in a coffin full of this frosting,” I declared.

“Noted. And yet, you’ve wasted half of it by missing your mouth,” Aleks said, grinning, as he trailed a finger near the swirl of salty sweetness gathered in the corner of my mouth.

“If you’d tasted it, you’d understand my sloppy haste to get the rest of it inside me.”

He arched a brow. His fingers slid down, cupping my chin and angling my mouth toward his. He kissed the patch of messy frosting slowly, dragging his tongue as he pulled away, licking off the stray line of it that had smeared toward my cheek.

“You’re right,” he said. “It’s delicious.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the lingering, buzzing warmth his mouth had left on my cold cheek, all while thinking of the other parts of me he’d savored with that tongue.

“Okay,” I breathed. “Okay. I concede defeat. My composure is lost. I’m…flustered.”

He laughed—a low, rich timbre that sent another hum of warmth through me. “Come on,” he said, taking my hand and weaving his fingers through mine, “there’s more I want to see.”

We ignored our aching feet and continued on, lost among the quiet conversations and sparkling lanterns of the city after dark. I soon forgot about the guards trailing us; the questions of what came next; the eyes of Tarnath’s citizens that watched us so closely. It was only me and him and wherever the night wanted to take us—the possibilities seemed endless.